Sunday, 16 December 2012

First run in Tokyo

Getting this sticker in my passport turned out to be harder than expected.

The trip Far East was slightly exhausting. First Lufthansa was too slow in Frankfurt for Singapore Airlines, and my luggage got stuck there overnight. Then I got sick in Singapore. When I arrived in Japan the Immigration Officer didn't want to let me in straight away. I was led into a special room where I had to answer questions on why I was visiting, why I planned to stay for so long, what I did bring, how much money I had and so on. It's a good thing they are skeptical though, you never know. This "interrogation", next to the flight being delayed, caused me to not being out of the airport before half past midnight. At that time the trains and buses had stopped running, and I was forced to take a taxi. The taxi costed me about 20.000 yen (around 1350 kr).

Luckily the found property was not lost.

If I'm right this sign reads "Morinaga", whose house I'm staying at.

For the first days I was too jet lagged to sleep properly as well. Today I was finally feeling less sick and less tired, and I did my first ever Tokyo run. It was a short (5.54 km) and very slow (8:02) run, with several stops. I was scared of getting lost, as finding my way back very quickly can become like finding the tiniest needle in the biggest haystack ever. Haven't seen many runners so far, only six people. Might be because I've not found the best spot for running yet. I will keep looking though.

"No running here, please"?

Even with a map I'm completely lost, as I'm finding it a bit hard to read over here.

Luckily I have this device. If it breaks down before I learn my way I'm in trouble though.

The park is near to the house I'm living at, however a bit small as one round is about 1 km 1.8 km.

I've done more research on Google Maps and I'm certain that there are at least two tracks within reach. One seems to be in a stadium though, and might not be open for everyone. The other one is slightly far away (around 15 km one way). If I'll get myself a bike I will go there to check it out. My next running mission will be to go to a lake that is near by. If I find my way back a new post will come.

I can also report back that I'm so far very satisfied with the toilets over here, and the food, just to mention two things.

The toilets at the airport luckily came with English text and symbols.

Most toilets still come with analog toilet paper, so all you need to know is what button(s) that will flush.

Public transportation can also be confusing for a foreigner. I can read nothing but the time.